Roots music artist to appear in Marshall County

Marshall County music lovers are in for a treat on Friday, Jan. 27, when Erisa Rei is appearing at Knight's Pizza. The concert is free, and begins at 8 p.m.

Rei's new CD, "Black Ball," was officially released on Jan. 3, followed by a release party at the Black Box Theater, Spring Hill, on Jan. 7. Knight's Pizza is a stop on Rei's promotional tour.

For six years, according to her press release, Rei plowed away in the Christian music industry with decent success online, but she never felt like she completely fit in. With her heartfelt and oftentimes raw lyric-writing style, she felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb compared to most Christian music's feel-good lyrics and trademark clean sound.

In December 2010, after several disappointments in that field, Rei decided to go with her heart and start pursuing her career in a different genre, where her emotive voice and trademark sound could find a home. She found her place in the roots-rock and Americana music genre. Since she made that decision and started songwriting accordingly, her music has begun to garner attention within the music industry. Before her project, "Black Ball" had even been officially released, her music has been spotlighted in various online magazines and Web sites, such as Skope Magazine's December 2011 Artists to Watch, MusikReview's Download of the week in July 2011 and the WA Blues Society in October 2011, as well as some preliminary radio play in Europe and online.